The gold standard in the international economic system At the end of the 19th century, the world economy was characterized by the use of a gold standard. The gold standard helped unify the economies of the world's nations, leading to increased prosperity and stability. The success of the gold standard was linked to the particular circumstances of the time. As conditions changed, the gold standard became less viable and was eventually abandoned. This article will describe the advantages and disadvantages of the gold standard as it existed in the 19th century. In this way, an explanation will be provided as to why the gold standard rose to prominence and then declined. The gold standard is a monetary system in which the value of a country's currency is pegged to the value of gold. In this system, gold can be exchanged for currency and currency can be exchanged for gold. During the 19th century, the world's major nations moved to the gold standard, replacing the old system of bimetallism (a standard based on the values ​​of gold and silver). In 1821, Great Britain was the first nation to adopt the gold standard. At the time, Britain was the richest and most powerful nation in the world. In order to facilitate international trade, other countries began to follow Britain's lead (Eichengreen 7). The change has not been smooth in all countries. For example, after the United States adopted the gold standard in 1873, a politician named William Jennings Bryan led a movement to move to the silver standard. At that time, silver was relatively cheap because an abundance of it had been discovered in the mines of the western United States. Bryan, advocate for the rights of farmers and other workers...... middle of paper ...... Indeed, monetary authorities were more concerned with convertibility and national interests than with economic issues at the national level. The gold standard also declined due to the problem of governments needing reserves to back up their currencies. Governments were not always able to meet this demand, especially as the global supply of gold declined over time. Works Cited Balachandran, G. “Power and Markets in Global Finance: The Gold Standard, 1890-1926.” Journal of Global History 3 (2008), 313-335. Eichengreen, Barry. The globalization of capital: a history of the international monetary system. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Galbraith, John Kenneth. The economy in perspective: a critical history. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. Weatherford, Jack. The history of money. New York: Trois-Rivières Press, 1997.